One-time NBA MVP Joel Embiid returned to the court just 17 days after undergoing an appendectomy, but even his 26 points could not inspire the Philadelphia 76ers in a 128-96 loss to the Boston Celtics in Game 4 of their opening-round playoff series.
The Celtics lead the best-of-seven set, 3-1.
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Payton Pritchard led all scorers with 32 points off the bench for the Celtics (two points shy of Kevin McHale’s franchise-record 34 playoff points off the bench).
Jayson Tatum came within three rebounds of a triple-double, totaling 30 points, 11 assists and 7 rebounds. Jaylen Brown added 20 points and 7 rebounds for Boston.
Embiid’s 26 points led the Sixers, who also got 22 points from Tyrese Maxey.
Now, the takeaways.
Payton Pritchard, spark plug
Pritchard, the NBA’s 2025 Sixth Man of the Year, sparked a bench barrage.
The Celtics guard scored 13 of his 32 points in the opening quarter, even converting a signature buzzer-beater at the end of the first, as his team took an early 34-18 lead.
The Celtics combined to score 24 points off the bench in the opening quarter, the most ever in the play-by-play era. Boston’s reserves combined to shoot 5-for-8 from 3-point range in the frame. Pritchard hit three of them, including the buzzer-beater.
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The Celtics needed the minutes, too, at least from their bigs, since Neemias Queta got into early foul trouble, working opposite Embiid. Both Nikola Vučević and Luka Garza played admirably off the bench, forcing Embiid to cover them out to the arc.
Boston’s bench outscored its Philadelphia counterparts, 55-24.
Joel Embiid makes his series debut
Embiid looked a lot like Embiid, which is to say he was laboring a bit. Understandable, considering he is less than three weeks removed from an appendectomy, his latest bizarre injury. But let’s not pretend he did not look a lot like this in the regular season, playing 1,200 minutes over 38 games on a surgically repaired left knee and right foot.
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Embiid looking like Embiid also meant he was ever-present for stretches, which can be both a good thing and a bad thing. He did average a 27-8-4 in the regular season.
It was a good thing for the first seven minutes. He scored Philadelphia’s first eight points and ignited the home crowd, even staking the Sixers to an early 13-12 edge.
It was not a good thing for the rest of the game. Embiid totaled 26 points, 10 rebounds and 6 assists, but he had no wind for defense. He could not guard over the space necessary to compete with Boston’s shooters, who drilled a franchise-record 24 of their 53 3-point attempts.
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Tatum, Brown own the third quarter
That the Celtics led by 18 at halftime was somewhat of a surprise, given how Tatum and Brown had performed to that point. They combined for just 13 points on 4-for-16 shooting in the opening two quarters, as Boston’s bench carried the offense instead.
That was a bad sign for the Sixers, who could only hold the Jays down for so long.
Tatum and Brown scored Boston’s first 22 points of the third quarter, as the Celtics stretched their lead to 30. Tatum scored 13 of them in the opening eight minutes of the second half. (This is where we remind you he is 11 months removed from Achilles surgery.) Neither played the final minutes of a second blowout in this series’ four games.